In the early 19th century, publishers generally
issued their books in paper casings.
Buyers often would commission professional binders
to bind the books in styles that suited their private
collections. These binders usually
worked on each book individually, covering the
book by hand in leather. However, this process
was involved,
time-consuming, and the cost prohibitive for many
people. Books up to this point were largely only
in the homes of the very wealthy.

Responding to
ever-growing
literate public, publishers responded to the
needs of the masses by mechanizing
the binding
process
and
issuing
books
encased in
cloth.
These
bindings, which first appeared in the United
States in the early 1830s, were far less expensive
than
leather, more durable than paper, and able to
be done en
masse by machine rather than individually
by hand, as they previously had been bound.

In the years directly preceding the era of American
cloth bindings, publishers issued some books bound
in leather and paper that were meant for the masses.
As literacy was more widespread, the public continued
to seek out books of all kinds for home
use. Consequently, publishers began eradicating
the need for independent bookbinders by taking
on the binding step themselves. These books, published
from 1815 to 1829, represent the conception and
formative years of the mass-marketed publishers'
bindings.